Another scheme of the Russian "Kalashnikov". How to sell gun barrels to 44 countries under sanctions

Previously, EP (Ekonomichna Pravda) has already explained why it is important to stop exporting Russian weapons to defeat the aggressor. The military defense complex of the Russian Federation already experiences problems because many Russian corporations are deprived of the opportunity to sell their products to Western countries due to the sanctions imposed after 2014.

Nevertheless, large military-industrial state-owned companies of the Russian Federation are finding loopholes to circumvent sanctions.

EP already wrote how they do it on the example of the Kalashnikov concern and Alfa Precision, which sold the products of the Russian defense giant to Western countries. In addition, despite sanctions, the Kalashnikov Concern used to try to acquire a line for the production of cartridges in Europe through intermediaries in the Russian Federation.

Kalashnikov was sanctioned in 2014 along with other Russian defense industry enterprises such as Rosoboronexport, Rostekh and Izhmash. Together, these companies account for over 90% of Russian arms exports.

Since 2018, all companies or countries that do business with sanctioned Russian defense enterprises may be subject to US sanctions. However, this severe restriction did not affect the concern's determination to continue doing business in Europe and did not prevent European companies from making money from it.

Below we give another example of the sale of the group's products to the US and Europe through companies associated with the Russian Federation in the eighth year of sanctions.

EDGun rifles for Europe and USA

Earlier, EP explained how the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, part of the Kalashnikov concern, sells IZH-46M pistols to the US. Although, they are allegedly produced by the private company Alfa Precision, not by a plant in Izhevsk.

As it turned out, the Alfa Precision mentioned above works with another private company that has a business selling weapons to Western markets. We are talking about the company EDGun, which produces rifles.

EDgun was founded in 2002. Positions itself as a recognized manufacturer of pneumatic weapons, the pioneer of the bullpup format. The manufacturing company is located in the city of Segezha, Karelia.

For gun lovers, the company promises the highest quality standards in developing accurate, reliable and durable weapons. Each rifle is assembled as an individual copy. The consumer receives it with a target.

According to public information, the company employs only two people, and its revenue for 2021 was 124.7 million rubles, or about $1.6 million (156% more than in 2020).

The founder and director of EDGun LLC is Eduard Gafarov. There is little information known about him, except for one interesting fact. In 2013, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation opened a case against him under the article "extremism" for a Nazi statement addressed to representatives of non-Russian nationalities. Gafarov was even included in the Rosfinmonitoring's list of active terrorists and extremists.

In 2014, the businessman was convicted, he got off with a fine, and a year later, as Gafarov assured, the criminal record was removed, and he was excluded from the list of terrorists. Since then, the businessman has been doing well. And the more actively he favours the current Russian regime, the better he is doing.

State Duma deputy and chairman of the Rodina party Alexei Zhuravlev then ensured protection of the "Nazi gunsmith". He was ready to amend the legislation for the sake of Gafarov, and his party provided Gafarov with information support in Karelia.

The aforementioned Zhuravlev is a war hawk of Russia's attack on Ukraine. On February 19, 2022, 5 days before the full-scale invasion, he called for the formation of volunteer squads to be sent to Donbas. From the beginning of the invasion, he has often been visiting the Donbas, and on the air of Russian TV channels, he intimidated the Russians with a NATO attack.

Arms business owner Gafarov also publicly supports Motherland, whose policies are in line with everything Putin does.

In recent years, the income of a businessman has been steadily growing.

Gafarov receives income from selling rifles and telescopic sights not only in Russia but also from sales worldwide. This is evidenced by the presence of 44 representatives, whose contacts are published in the official booklet of the company. It sells its products all over the world.

EDgun has representatives in Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, US, Czech Republic, Portugal, Lebanon, France, Holland, Belgium, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Iraq, UK, Uruguay, Argentina, UAE, Paraguay, Japan, Taiwan, Poland, Italy, Panama, Colombia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Turkey, Serbia, Iran, Norway, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, Greece, Croatia, Austria.

The main sales point in Europe of Edgan LLC is located in Spain. It is possible to buy weapons and arms accessories here through an online order in the online store at the link: www.edgun.shop/. There are also contacts: EMAIL: info@edgun.shop, WHATSAPP: +34 666 712 245 (chat only), TELEGRAM: +34 666 712 245 (chat only). Russian weapons are sent from Spain throughout Europe.

Edgan LLC sells its products in the US through the edgunwest.com representative office.

How "Kalashnikov" is connected with Edgun

On the Edgun YouTube channel, you can find a video that features Eduard Gafarov and the man he calls the owner of Alfa Precision:

In it, Gafarov addresses his clients' concerns that the EDgun uses barrels made by the Russian company Alfa Precision, not foreign companies.

Faced with harsh criticism and sarcasm about "import substitution", Gafarov explains that these barrels are not worse than foreign ones and claims that he is the first to test advanced products in the Russian arms market.

The name of the person next to Gafarov is not indicated in the video, although he may be Mikhail Kozlov, the owner of the AlfaPrecision company from Izhevsk, whose connection with the Kalashnikov concern has already been explained by EP.

In addition, there is a post in the Alfa Precision group on the Russian social network VKontakte in which Gafarov confirms that he uses Alfa Precision barrels.

The post has the following heading: "The creator of EDgun pcp (pre-charge pneumatics) rifles, Eduard Gafarov, about Alpha Precision barrels." It includes Gafarov's comments on one of the Russian gun forums, where he explains why he uses Alfa Precision barrels instead of foreign ones.

The first paragraph reads: "I received the audio of one hot guy from the southern regions with a characteristic dialect, who is outraged that the barrels (are made by) IZH, and not LV, and he even wants to 'bring me down to land'. Like, IZH is much cheaper and so on. I will explain."

Then Gafarov talks about IZH barrels manufactured by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant of the Kalashnikov concern on the Alfa Precision platform, although the text came out under the heading "Gafarov talks about Alfa Precision barrels."

In 2015, it became known that OJSC Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and OJSC Concern Izhmash were included in the US sanctions list. It means that US and EU citizens are banned from entering into any business contacts with these enterprises of the Russian Federation.

Another piece of evidence is the information on the Russian gun owners forum forum.guns.ru. In the screenshot below, the photo shows "barrel blanks for Alfa Precision air rifles".

It means that Alfa Precision barrels are produced by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant of the Kalashnikov concern, which is under sanctions, and Gafarov uses them to produce its air rifles.

The author of the post A. V. Sokol resembles Alfa Precision employee Alexei Sokolov. Below in the same post, you can see the following information: "The barrel is installed in the EDgun Matador rifle" (highlighted in green in the screenshot).

Eduard Gafarov also makes videos where he tries out new rifles made using Alfa Precision barrels. These videos are published on YouTube and in the Alfa Precision Vkontakte group:

It once again proves that EDgun air rifles are produced with barrels manufactured by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant of the Kalashnikov concern, hiding behind the Alfa Precision showcase.

At the same time, the EDGun website indicates that the company sells barrels from only two manufacturers - Lothar Walther (Germany) and Alfa Precision (Russia). Russian products account for about half of the company's sales.

It turns out that the barrels of the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant are used for rifles that EDgun exports to 44 countries, including the US and EU countries. It means that companies or countries that do business with Russian sanctioned defense companies may also be sanctioned.

The competent authorities that enforce economic and trade sanctions may be interested in investigating EDGun activities.

For example, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury may be interested in this case. As you know, US sanctions apply not only to individuals, US enterprises, and operations in the US but also to persons who are not US citizens. Neither EDgun nor Eduard Gafarov are on the US sanctions list yet.

In the EU, sanctions policy decisions belong to the responsibility of the EU Council, based on proposals from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. So far, EDGun has not appeared on its list.

The article was prepared according to the information of the Economic Security Council of Ukraine. The organization was created to develop expertise in identifying and countering internal and external threats to the Ukrainian economic security.